• Actor Ranveer Singh is in legal trouble after he shared photos from a nude cover shoot.
  • Complaints said Singh was 'hurting women's sentiments' by posting nude photos.
  • India has vague obscenity laws that allow them to be broadly implemented.

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh was accused of "hurting women's sentiments" after sharing a nude photoshoot in complaints filed with Mumbai Police on Monday, India Today first reported.

Days after Singh shared photos from the shoot with "Paper" magazine, where he poses nude on a Turkish rug, an office-bearer of a Mumbai non-governmental organization submitted a complaint, alleging the actor insulted women's modesty.

A post shared by Ranveer Singh (@ranveersingh)

 

The same day, a lawyer, Vedika Chaubey, also filed a separate complaint, requesting the police investigate whether Singh intended to offend women's modesty.

"Of course this is vulgar. We can see his bum," Chaubey said in an interview with NDTV. "This is a national issue."

Singh, one of India's most famous contemporary actors, is the latest high-profile example of how the country's obscenity laws have been abused for their overly broad definition. In 2005, a prominent South Indian actress and politician was charged with 23 criminal complaints under the obscenity clause after she endorsed couples living together before marriage in an interview with a magazine. The Supreme Court of India eventually rejected the claims against her.

Section 294 of India's penal code cites that anyone who conducts any obscene act or recites any obscene song "to the annoyance of others" shall be punished with imprisonment or with a fine.

While some people criticized the shoot as "indecent," other celebrities and fans have rallied behind Singh, praising his cover shot as "brave and unapologetic." Others said the lawyer complainant's request for a first information report (FIR) on Singh was "harassment" of the actor.

 

 

Other people have also pointed out the hypocrisy of condemning Singh for his nude photos while women in India continue to face discrimination and inequities like abuse and domestic violence.

Read the original article on Insider